Somerset veterans struggling to access emergency housing

Somerset has around 5,000 regular armed forces personnel, stationed at bases like RNAS Yeovilton and the 40 Commando barracks near Norton Fitzwarren, along with 50,000 retired veterans.

Councillor Ewan Cameron, who served as a lieutenant colonel in Afghanistan in the mid-2000s, stated at a recent public meeting in Bridgwater that more needed to be done to ensure veterans could access the housing they needed.

Somerset Council has said it will review its current approach to allocating housing, including how veterans are banded on the Homefinder system.

People on the Homefinder register are currently placed into one of four bands:

• Emergency (typically reserved for those fleeing domestic violence or similarly traumatic events, or those whose existing property had fallen into "urgent disrepair")
• Gold (people who are homeless, facing harassment, being moved on from supported accommodation or urgently needing two or more bedrooms due to family circumstances)
• Silver (people at risk of being homeless, lacking an additional bedroom due to their family situation or having a dependent child)
• Bronze (people adequately housed with "adequate financial resources" but wanting to move to a property which better meets their housing need)

Veterans can currently be placed into any band depending on their circumstances, which takes into account their health and current accommodation arrangements along with other factors.

Since the Armed Forces Act 2022, local authorities have had a statutory duty to provide a certain level of support for veterans through education, health and housing.

The government confirmed in July 2025 that these duties would become more wide-ranging from early-2027, meaning the council will have to provide additional support to ensure veterans do not slip through the cracks.

Mr Cameron (who represents Glastonbury) spoke on this matter when the council's adults, health and housing scrutiny committee met in Bridgwater on October 8.

He said: "I am ex-armed forces, I have complex PTSD and am part of the queer community - all of which are covered under this new approach.

Councillor Ewan Cameron (Liberal Democrat, Glastonbury) (Image: Somerset Council)

"This challenges us to make a gear shift in what we're doing and how we're doing business across the council.

"I've had a number of representations from ex-armed forces people in the homeless community who have sought emergency accommodation.

"They've not been assessed as a priority to get emergency accommodation using the current methodology that our excellent outreach teams use.

"I would expect that a homeless armed forces person seeking emergency accommodation might generate an immediate response to solve their homelessness. That's the level of detail that we need to get into, across all of our service provision."

Councillor Henry Hobhouse, the council's armed forces champion, said that the council's housing team had recently added additional capacity to ensure that veterans' needs would be met under the new provisions.

Councillor Henry Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat, Castle Cary) (Image: Somerset Council)

Mr Hobhouse (who represents Castle Cary and the neighbouring villages) said: "The new rules are going to add a considerable amount of effort that has to be put into this area across the council.

"I spend quite a lot of time dealing with housing. I have to say that we have now appointed a senior member of our housing team to work with us on this - so this will now be speeded up."

The committee has asked the council to review its "housing allocations and homelessness practice" to ensure it provides "appropriate consideration for members of the armed forces community" - including how individual applicants are banded.

The council is currently awaiting the outcome of a bid to the government's Valour programme, which seeks to create 'valour centres' across the UK to provide support for both veterans and serving personnel.

If the bid is successful, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will provide funding for three years to enable a dedicated centre to be opened in Taunton, with additional investment being provided by NHS Somerset and its partners.